Empire
by RonninBlade
Summary: My version of the third installment of the inheritance trilogy i guess i can't wait for the last book any more than i can for harry potter book 7
1. Chapter 1

**First Rider**

Eragon lay awake long into the night – long after his two companions – Roran, his brother, if not by blood, then by the bond they shared, and Orik, whose tears still stained his beard – had fallen into the deep sleep of exhaustion. _What is wrong, little one?_ Eragon laughed bitterly in his head. _Did you really need to ask?_ He got up, and left his tent. He thought perhaps the night air would clear his head. When he was several tents down, he was met by Arya and Saphira. The saddle Oromis had given Eragon sat on her back, along with several days rations for three people. "what's going on?" he asked, neither sarcastically, or particularly curious. Arya fixed him with a perhaps too harsh stare. "you've no time to help your cousin, Eragon. You have a responsibility to the varden, the dwarves, and the elves that, as shur'tugal you will stand and fight against the tyranny that is Galbatorix." Eragon was in no mood to shrink back at a glance, and his "infatuation" with her, as she considered it, did little in his current state to keep him from returning an angry, biting retort. "As if I can do anything against Galbatorix or Murtagh. I'm about as useless as a four year old girl. And Saphira, you, the dwarves, the elves, the urgals, and the varden combined are just as useless!" with that, he stormed off.

As he left their sight and senses, having blocked his mid from Saphira, he was met by a voice from the shadows. He had sensed it long before he reached it, and recognized the power of his magic on it. "You know, some four year old girls are more useful than others." "Elva." "Come, Eragon, and we shall go and find truth, and see if you cannot be convinced to go and apologize to your friends." Knowing that Elva's power was that of bringing aid to those who needed it, and knowing how to guide them to that aid, Eragon could not see how she could steer him wrong, and followed. They traversed the camp at a speed Eragon would not have expected from the small feet of a child, be that child Elva or not. He sensed their destination long before reaching it, but kept to the path Elva laid before him, knowing it would cause her pain not to be able to help him. When they arrived, Angela was waiting at the door to the tent, Solembum, in werecat form once more, sat at her feet. "Ah, Eragon. Just the one I wanted to see." He waited for the cackle that never came. Angela still possessed that "difference", as he and Saphira called it, that made her unique, yet, there was a solumness about her. She smiled a slight smile, and bid them to come inside. "I think it is time," she said, "that you learn what I can tell you of your mother, that one day, perhaps you can find her."

Eragon was quite astonished, to say the least, as he was led inside to a rather comfortable armchair – the kind you are least likely to find in a war zone – where he sat and composed himself for an explanation that he hoped would ease his mind and perhaps mend the tattered remains of his curiosity. Elva, looking pale, took her leave to go aid someone else. Angela sat down in front of him, on an equally comfortable looking armchair, and sighed. "Where to start." _It is usually best to start at the beginning. _Said Solembum. "the beginning it is then. First, there was nothing, then, by some means unexplainable to mere mortals, suddenly, there was something. Skip forward who knows how many years, and your mother is born in Carvahall. She seemed to have an oddness about her that no-one could place. At age seventeen, she simply left. Where she went, I could tell you not. When she came to me, several years ago, she had a look of unbound sadness in her eyes. As she stayed with me, I could not understand why she carried such sadness. It was very recently when I came upon the truth, when meeting you.

"You see, Eragon, your mother had a very unique ability – one never seen before in this world. Like you, she had certain visions of the future while she dreamt, but more importantly, every night she had such visions, and, still more importantly, she could control the flow of these "prescient dreams". In other words, she had the ability to scry the future." Eragon's mind was thrown into a tumultuous chain of thought leading up to the answers to many of his questions. "so, she knew of me… and Murtagh. And she fled with me not to Carvahall, but to Brom, because she knew…" "yes, she knew that you and your brother were to become the next riders. She also must have known Murtagh's fate, or she would have tried to save him. She was bound by the power of fate, you see, just as Elva is bound to the protection of others. She could not change what was to be, and it pained her. Then, several days later, while still in her second month of pregnancy, she left, saying only that she had to go, as so many times before, to the rock of Kuthian." The name echoed in his head. He knew the name. _When all seems lost and your power is insufficient, go to the rock of Kuthian and speak your name to open the Vault of Souls._

"The rock of Kuthian…" "indeed. Perhaps, if ever you need to go to the rock, you shall meet your mother. Perhaps, as fate had laid out before her, that path lies on your trip to Ellesmera with Arya and Saphira." Eragon thought on this for several minutes before a dwarf burst in. "master rider. You must come with me." He looked to Angela, and she nodded, so he followed the dwarf outside.

The dwarf led him to a group of around twenty other dwarves, led by a recently awoken Orik. "we've just received word that the Isidar Mithrim has been completed." Said Eragon's dwarf companion, smiling. Eragon stood, slightly astonished. "I know, you'd think such a feat would take years, but when our architects heard of Hrothgar's death, they were empowered by his sacrifice, and worked infinitely harder to fulfill his wishes!" Eragon smiled, but behind the veil of happiness was a great sadness. _I will not be able to go with Roran to save Katrina. _

_Fear not, little one. I have brought him. He will ride with us to Farthen Dur, and we shall repair the Isidar Mithrim. Arya has explained the importance of going to Ellesmera to get you a weapon as well. He has agreed to come. _

_Yet we are still left with one more problem. As a member of Durgrimst Ingeitum, I have an obligation to my clan to bury Hrothgar, and if we all go together, we cannot fly, and there will be no chance of us returning in time to defeat Galbatorix. _

_Fear not so small a task little one. We need only carry you, Roran, and Arya. I shall carry Hrothgar in my talons, and we shall reach Farthen Dur in time enough._

Eragon explained this plan to the dwarves, and they agreed.

When all preparations were made, he, Roran, and Arya mounted Saphira, and she leapt up onto the wooden casket that would hold Hrothgar's body during their flight. The wood groaned under the tremendous weight, but held. They said their goodbyes, and flew for Farthen Dur. With the added weight, it took them three days to reach the great mountain. They followed the tunnels to the mountain-city within. In the center of the city lay the great star sapphire, a shadow of its former glory. Throughout the gem cracks veined, giving it a streaked appearance. _Are you sure you can repair it?_ Saphira didn't respond. When they dismounted, Saphira immediately flew to the gem. She hovered in mid air at the middle of the gem, and lightly touched her nose to it. A ripple of energy went through the gem, and then it began to glow with the fiercest light. A great blast of wind emanated from the gem, blowing several dwarves from their feet, which is saying something. When the blast subsided, the gem rose to it's place high above, glowing in all it's great glory. Saphira floated to the ground like a dead leaf leaving a tree. When she landed, she stumbled slightly. _Saphira!_

Eragon ran to her. _It is alright, little one. I am fine. The restoration took a lot out of me, and I shall need a day to recover._

It did indeed take her the day to recover, but when the night dawned, at Saphira's behest, they mounted up, and flew for Du Weldenvarden. Roran marveled at the sights of the things he passed. He had seen the largest mountain in alagaesia, and on the second day of their flight, the largest forest. Eragon and Arya were more amazed by the time they were making. It seemed as if Saphira had twice her normal speed. Regardless of their wonderings, they reached ellesmera by day two of their journey. They landed on the outskirts of the Crags of Telnaeir. Eragon did requested that Saphira wait with Arya and Roran, while he went to see Oromis. Normally, he would let his friends accompany him, but his vow of secrecy in the ancient language prevented him from bringing Roran, and he didn't want his brother attacked by elves during his visit. When he arrived outside oromis' cottage, he came in time to see queen Islanzadi exit. He ran up to her, performed the proper greeting, and asked her what had happened. She bore a look of great sadness on her features. "I am sorry Eragon, but Oromis has reached the end of his time on this world. He will leave us shortly." A single tear that possessed all the sadness in the world left the queens face, as she turned from him, and left the clearing. Eragon ran into the cottage, to find Oromis lying on a small cot in the middle of the floor. "ah, Eragon… I am sorry to say I had not the strength to tell you of my current condition, nor to apologize for failing to tell you that Murtagh was your brother… if you have come to complete your training, I am also sorry to say that will be impossible. I can tell you only that you will find what you seek at the vault of souls – a realization that came to me recently. I can speak of it no more, for my strength to speak leaves me… you should tell Saphira to see Glaedr before he joins me in my death…" Eragon could think of nothing to say, for he had never been given the knowledge of what to say at the death of an elf. Nonetheless, the knowledge came to him from an unknown source. He spoke the words in the ancient tongue. "may the night winds carry you to peace eternal, my master." And with that, Eragon fled the cottage to find Saphira. He told her what happened, and she flew to find Glaedr.

Drained of emotion, Eragon had no idea what to do. He felt as if he wanted to go in all directions at once, yet stay in the same place. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Arya, a comforting smile on her face. "come, Eragon." He simply followed, as she led him through the forest. His mind was far too clouded by grief to sense the life around him. Yet, when they reached their destination, the grief flew from him, in awe of what he now saw. Beside him, Arya too stood in awe. As to Roran, who had followed, he was in greater awe. Never had he thought that in the course of one week, he could see so many marvels of nature and magic. Before them stood the Menoa tree, yet not the Menoa tree. This tree glowed with an energy so strong, it could be seen as well as sensed. The tree's trunk and boughs were a shining white, the needles of the great pine a white jade color. Eragon knew what he must do. He took a few steps towards the roots of the tree. He knelt before the roots, and spoke the words "eka neidde ai sverda, orim eka se letta zar'roc!" I need a sword, that I may stop misery. The phrase had a double meaning, yet both meanings were truth. A face of an elf woman appeared on the tree. The voice of the tree rang out strong and true. "vel du yawe abr Skulblaka un Shur'tugal, se du sverdar gala unin onr lam!" three of the roots uplifted as a blinding light emitted from between them. The light subsided to reveal a glimmering blue-white sword. It had a two handed handle, a perfectly curved blade, and a perfect white diamond set in the hilt and pommel. Beside it lay it's sheath – light blue with white gold inlay, with three more diamonds in it. Eragon drew the sword and sheath from their resting place. The roots sealed up as he stood, and, in the eery light of the glowing Menoa tree, Eragon swung the sword, and the blade sang. The song was beautiful. He danced with the blade for what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes, perfecting his form with the curved blade. He saw Saphira return from glaedr, great dragon tears in her eyes, but Eragon, too caught up in the song of the blade, concentrated only on focusing the power that emanated from the melody.

When the song ended, and he stopped, he turned and looked at the awe that rested in his companions' eyes. "The sword…" said Arya, "that is the sword Gedwey Garjzla – shining light – sword of the legendary first rider. As to the sword forms you just performed, they were the ancient form of the elves of old, as that sword is shaped in the same fashion as the elven swords during the first Eragon's time. I have seen such skill with a blade only once, with the eldest master of our swordsmen, who died when I was still a child. Moreover, you performed the forms perfectly, though the how of it is beyond me." Eragon nodded as he buckled the sheath to his swordbelt, and sheathed the sword. He turned to Saphira, sadness in his eyes, and put a hand on her head. _They're gone, aren't they?_

_Indeed, little one._

He wrapped his arms around her great and noble neck, and the two wept openly at the deaths of their masters.


	2. Chapter 2

Dear readers, to those of you who have a problem with spelling mistakes, I feel I must remind you that this is fanfiction, and that it will likely never be published, so there is really no need to fix spelling and grammar. To me, fanfiction is just a way to polish my writing skills, and become more accustomed to assimilating the writing styles of my favorite authors into my own writings. Besides, I'm not entirely sure FanFiction would accept the odd grammar that occurs in the ancient language, such as the correct spelling of gedwey. To be perfectly honest, it is a rather large waist of time to be correcting my spelling and grammar errors in your reviews, so I do not suggest it. Mind you, I mean that in the nicest possible way, and I actually do worry about my readers wasting valuable reading time :)

**Return**

The return trip to Trongjheim was a silent and grim ride. _How am I to defeat Murtagh, let alone Galbatorix, even with the sword of the first rider, if I don't have the power to use magic on them successfully?_

Had he gotten the sword before Oromis' death, there might still have been a chance, but now? The last secrets of the riders were lost. _With my help, you'll manage. _Said Saphira.

As they spoke, Eragon's keen ears picked up a slight change in the background noise. It sounded like the flapping of great wings. He woke everyone silently with his mind, and prepared them for the aerial stunt he was going to have Saphira perform. As the wingbeats drew closer, she performed one of the most complex maneuvers glaedr had taught her – a controlled spiraling backflip that sent them veering off to the left and down at a 45 degree angle. They heard the roar of a dragon follow their path, as a second dragon flew out of the fog, and attempted to copy the maneuver. As Eragon had expected, Thorn had not been trained by another dragon in aerial combat, and he veered violently off course, nearly throwing off his rider, and crashing to the ground. The dragon righted himself only two yards before the ground, and pulled up to fly at them once again. He heard Murtagh snarl angrily at his dragon. The two flew far up into the clouds, so far that Eragon had to strain to see them. _Do you see them?_

_I do, but I fear something is wrong. _

As he and Saphira spoke, Arya yelled "Eragon, focus your sight. That is an elven mirror image. It is an ancient trick that combines scrying with fairth. He's made you see what you want to see, and now that you're distracted, he could be anywhere!" just as she said this, Murtagh flew at them from the right. Surprisingly, rather than attacking head on, he turned slightly, so that the two dragons passed each other in flight. Eragon watched in horror as Murtagh's sword whipped around to meet the back of Roran's head. He heard Murtagh's voice in his mind. _So this is the pitiful fool you've accepted as your brother? Well, may he find peace, in eternity! _ Murtagh aimed the point of the sword at the back of Roran's head, and lunged. Quick as lightning, Arya dove in front of the blade, as it impaled her through the center of her diaphragm. "Arya!" Murtagh drew the blade back, and Arya began to fall. Eragon, thinking not for his own safety, he dove from Saphira's back. He caught Arya in mid air, and was swept up by Saphira again. _Did I not tell you never to do that again!_

Eragon ignored her, and tended to Arya. He saw Murtagh spiral to the ground and land in one of the haderac desert's sand dunes. Eragon followed suit and landed several yards away. He lightly laid Arya on the dune, and began to heal her. As he began a complex healing spell, a spell of Murtagh's interceded. When the evil looking red light subsided, Murtagh said "this day is turning out better than expected. I had only hoped to kill your "brother" and break your spirit. Now I have a hostage. Arya is now bound to my power. Heal her, if you wish, but it will only prolong her suffering. Come to uru'baen and surrender now, and I will relinquish my hold. Come in two days, and she will already be dead. Do not come, and I have still succeeded in breaking your spirit. It matters not." He smirked in an evil way, one most unlike the Murtagh Eragon once knew.

Thinking not for his safety once again, he drew gedwey garjzla, and attacked with all of his speed. Murtagh spun, and parried the blow. "now now, little brother, you don't want me to slip, and kill her accidentally, do you?" Eragon stepped back, and composed himself. He then turned and healed Arya, and turned back to Murtagh, drained of strength from the healing process. "Murtagh! How about a duel, like old times?" the taller boy turned, a small smirk on his face. "so eager to lose again, Eragon?" "No. eager to win. On our word as riders, we use skill alone, and do not draw energy from any source but ourselves." He nodded, said the vow of a rider, and took up fighting stance. Eragon did the same, and drew his blade. He saw curiosity arise in Murtagh's eyes. "you plan to fight me with that bent sword?" Eragon simply nodded, and attacked.

The sweeping movements of the blade were hard to follow for Murtagh, but on strength alone, he was able to withstand the might of the first rider's sword. Zar'roc and Gedwey Garjzla clashed again and again. In the final clash of the duel, it appeared they were evenly matched. "looks like you still can't win, little brother. By comparison to me, you're an inadequate fool!" Eragon spun from the parry with unparalleled speed, and sliced in a downward arc. Murtagh never had time to block. Murtagh looked down at his gashed armor, and at the thin cut that ran down the mail underneath, and through the skin behind that. Eragon turned away victorious. Murtagh snarled viciously. "why? you had your chance to slay me just now, and you didn't! why? why do you instead choose to humiliate me?" Eragon turned back to his opponent. "four reasons. One, dying a warriors death is probably the most time honored foolishness there is. Dead is dead. Better to live and become stronger, if you ask me. Two, if I killed you, you'd likely kill Arya. Three, you may not be my brother, but you were once my friend, and I believe you can still be saved from the darkness you have enshrouded yourself in. and four, if I kill you now, I cannot get stronger, and I will never have a chance at beating Galbatorix." Murtagh called his dragon. "two days, Eragon. I shall see you fall in two days." When he left, Eragon turned to see Arya, now fully healed, shaking her head. "with each day that passes, he becomes more consumed by the darkness around him. I fear losing to you has only worsened it for him." she turned for Saphira, then turned back. "thank you, eragon, for saving my life once again." Eragon spoke in the ancient language; "it is my soul that thanks you, for saving the only true family I have left in this world, besides Saphira. I swear, I will do everything in my power to break the hold Murtagh's magic has on you." Arya smiled and nodded. "thank you, Eragon."

The rest of the trip was, if possible, quieter than before. Eragon was lost in his thoughts once again. He would gladly give his freedom to save Arya, but she would never let him do so, and he could not speak for Saphira on this. When they returned to Trongjheim, they were met with the angry faces of orik and his group of dwarves from the battle. "barzul!" said orik, cursing Eragon. Eragon leapt from Saphira's back, and landed lightly on his feet, drawing Gedwey Garjzla in one sweep of his arm. the dwarves eyed him warily, but held their ground. Eragon swept the blade above his head. "this is Gedwey Garjzla – the shining light – blade of the first rider, Eragon! I hold the blade that represents all riders. Regardless of my clan, I will do what I must to defend alagaesia. I was weaponless, powerless. Now, I have a small fraction of what I need to defeat the evils that lie in this land. I have returned – " his voice softened, "as I always planned to, to bury our king." The use of the word "our" made it clear the devotion Eragon carried to his clan. The stone faces of the dwarves softened. Orik said "your lucky we waited for you. We were about to begin the entombment." He watched and listened, as Hrothgar was entombed in stone. The great stone blocks that were the top and bottom of his sarcophagus were solid, and had to be hollowed out in relief to the exact likeness of Hrothgar. When the task was done, Hrothgar was placed on the bottom slab, and the upper slab was lowered over him. When it was done, the dwarves stepped back, and Eragon stepped forward. He had asked what happened after the two slabs were in place, and he knew his task. He stepped up, drew his sword, and placed his left hand over the block. "seille du Gulott!" seal the stone! The stone sarcophagus rumbled and shook, and a light emitted from the crack, and as the light passed around the stone, it sealed to form one complete slab of rock. When it was finished, the dwarves stood silent, astonished. "it usually takes twenty dwarf spellcasters to seal the stone that holds a grimstborith! How did you manage such a feat?" asked orik. Eragon looked down at the glowing sword in his hand. "I guess the will of the first rider is greater than anything I can comprehend." Having nothing more to say, Eragon turned to leave. "eragon, wait!" he turned once again to face orik. "I have not the time to bandy words. Murtagh threatens those I care for, and I must find the power to stop him. I go to the rock of Kuthian." _Wherever that may be_ he added bitterly in his mind.

Orik's eyes grew wide at the mention of the name. "you… you seek the vault of souls?" the room grew quiet at the mention of the name. Eragon felt hope well within him. "you know of the place?" orik averted his gaze, as if speaking of the place was an honor above mortal comprehension, or below the lowest blaspheme. "the vault of souls is legendary among the dwarves. It is a place where the heavens, the underworld, and this world meet. It is said to be kept by one with the power to see that which has yet to come, and that those who attempt to open the vault never return." Eragon saw fear in the dwarf. "the legends may say that none pass e'er to return, but go I must. Where lies the rock of Kuthian?" Orik sighed. "though I may mourn your fate, I cannot stop you, so, if you must go, it lies beyond the beors, in a land where nothing grows. It cannot be reached by going around the beors, nor under them. Only through them." Eragon put a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. "thank you, my friend – no, my brother." The dwarf smiled, and bid him farewell. Eragon mounted Saphira, and turned to Arya and Roran. "I can fly fastest without you're added weight. Wait here, and I shall return for you." He said no more, nor did he look at them as he left, knowing the chances of his return were equal to the chances of his not returning. When he mounted Saphira, he found Arya standing behind him, a grim look on her face. "I would know my own fate, and besides, as an elf, I weigh little." Knowing that he could not convince her to wait, he nodded. He turned to his brother. "I shall return, and when I do, I will have the strength I need to help you save Katrina." "I know. That's why I let you go in the first place, and why I came with you." They exchanged a brief brotherly hug, and Eragon left.

_Eragon._

_Hmm? _

_Even I am curious, how did you seal the stone? I felt the power, but it seemed to come from both you, the sword, and neither. How is that possible?_

_I believe the power I used was like your use of magic to heal Isidar Mithrim, and like the power that propelled us throughout this trip. I also think it has to do with my vow to Roran. Though I never spoke it in the ancient language, I used nonverbal magic subconsciously to seal the vow, so, I think the magic is now working to grant me the strength I need to perform the task I vowed._

_Interesting._

_Indeed._

It took them several hours to fly between the large mountains that blocked their path, but they soon came upon a place where they could not pass. The mountain was twice as tall as Farthen Dur, as far as could be seen, and three times as wide. Arya's voice whispered in the thin air, "du Felvarden… the guarding mountain – I remember now, the old tale. The elves, not believing in an afterlife, forsook the legend of the vault of souls, a place where those bound by fate came to rest. The place is guarded by the greatest mountain in the beors, made of rock nothing can cut through, so the dwarves never were able to pass here, and too tall even for a dragon and rider to pass." Eragon drew the sword, tapping into it's seemingly endless power supply. Eragon, however, knew that all power had it's limit, and also knew that if they did succeed in reaching the top, the sword's power would probably be expended. "reisa du vindr orund nosu!" raise the air around us! As the air began to rise, Saphira flew with it, while the three of them held their breath as long as they could to preserve the air. With the increased lung capacity Eragon held as a full rider, and Arya as an elf, and the naturally enormous lung capacity of Saphira, they managed to make it around 500 feet up before needing to breath the reserves of air they had brought with them. Every hundred feet, eragon reinforced his spell, and as they went up slowly, so as to allow their bodies to become used to the lessening of air, they slowly reached beyond the mist, then beyond the clouds that lay above that. As they crested the top, several hours later, eragon felt the power of his spell wane. He knew his own body could only maintain a few minutes of the spell before passing out, so he told everyone to hold their breath, and he released the spell, as saphira dove down the mountainside at maximum speed.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Rock of Kuthian**

On the other side of the mountain, the descent was far longer, since it was the last mountain before a mass of green, with fog rising from it, which turned out to be a vast marsh. As they flew to the base of the mountain, they were met by a woman presumably in her mid thirties, with a combination of great pain, unbound elation, and fathomless grief on her features. When Eragon saw her, he knew immediately who she was. They came lightly to a stop on the great plateu of grass that rose out of the swamp that surrounded them on either side. Oddly enough, the swamp was indiscernible from the mists that surrounded them. Eragon surmised that there was no growth in that stagnant water, only death. He dismounted from saphira, and turned to greet the woman. He performed the proper hand gesture, and said "Kvetha. Eku… Eku Ono Selena elda?" Greetings. Are… are you selena? The woman smiled a sad sort of smile, and said, in the language of men "yes, eragon. I am selena. But cut the formalities; you may speak to your mother in a manner that befits a human son." She held out her arms, and eragon ran to her, and hugged her tightly. "I always wondered…" "yes?" said selena, "what it would feel like to be held by my real mother." She smiled, and held him tighter. A short distance away, arya smiled at the reunion, and saphira cried the happiness she felt through the bond with her rider."

After a time, eragon led his mother to meet saphira, whom she spoke to in the manner of the elves, directly from mind to mind. Saphira seemed satisfied that this woman was fit to have sired eragon, and lowered her head in a bow. _It is an honor, Wyrdkopa. _At the mention of her title; Seer of Fate, the sadness returned to selena, and, as if reminded of her duty, she turned to eragon. "time is short, my son. If you wish to save arya from your brother, and your brother from himself, you must follow. First, however, yours and saphira's minds must go from two who share two, to one that is two. Only then, when speaking your true name, can you open the vault of souls." Eragon felt a chill at the sound of blagden, the raven's prophecy repeated. "I am sorry, but I know not how to meld my consciousness completely with saphira's." his mother smiled kindly. "you needn't worry about it until we get there. Now come." She turned and led him down the hill onto a grassy path that led between the death marsh that lay on either side, as saphira flew with them overhead, and arya awaited their return.

As they spoke, saphira thought it best to give mother and son their privacy. "So, you knew you had to marry morzan, in order to save the riders?" selena sighed. "I saw it, and, although I have never done it, it causes me great pain to even consider defying the fates, as it does elva to not be able to help people." Eragon hung his head in shame. "you must hate me, for what I've done." She shook her head, and looked at her son lovingly. "I cannot hate you for an ignorant mistake, anymore than I can love you for being a rider. I love you for being my son, and for that, I can never hate you. Besides, I did not mention it to criticize your decisions – only to give an example. But back to the topic. I forsaw your birth, and what was to come for you, and I knew if the balance of the three races was to have even a small chance of being restored, you had to come about, even if it was at the cost of my first son." He watched a single tear fall from selena's eye. A tear containing all the grief and pain the world had. Eragon put a hand on his mother's shoulder, and attempted to say, in the ancient language that he knew her pain, but he realized that he could never say that, because the pain she bore was that of one who had to choose between her sons lives twice. Because of this, he could only say "I am sorry." "it is all right. I have to suffer the future only a few short hours longer." Eragon felt a pang of fear for his mother's life. "what do you mean?" "no, don't worry, I'm not dying, it's just that, the closer time comes to the time when you go to the rock of kuthian, the foggier my vision of the future gets. When you reach it, I lose my foresight altogether. I know not what will happen when you get there, or even if you will survive the experience." The sadness returned to her eyes, and eragon knew she would say no more. The rest of the trip was walked in silence.

What they reached at the end of the path was what looked like a great rippling mirror, stretching as far as the eyes of any being could see in every direction. "there is no name for this place, and it is the reason why I cannot see beyond in time. This is the void. The gate between life and death. When you pass through the void, so will all the world. When, and if you return, the world will be born anew. If you return, I shall be blind to the future, once and for all. Only one can pass here. Only the one fated to have free will over fate. If you succeed, destiny shall be no more, and you shall decide your own fate. I wish you good luck, my son." She kissed him on the forehead, and turned away. "I cannot watch you go, for it is death to let your eyes follow another into the void. Remember to become one who is two, when you enter." He saw her tears fall to the grass at her feet, but he knew he had to leave her. He took a deep breath, and he and saphira pushed their thoughts together as far as they would go, and the two went through, simultaneously.

The twisting nether that was the void sucked them in with unparalleled speed. Eragon and saphira felt as though they were being twisted and stretched into thin strands less than a hairs width, and infinitely long. Within this void, their thoughts and minds melded still further. When they stepped through at the other end of the tunnel, it was as one being. Before them lay infinity, and behind them, the chaos that was nothingness. At the end of infinity, they saw a small speck of light. With the flick of a thought, they were upon the speck. As it turned out, they stood on a grassy patch surrounded by the abyss. On the grass in front of them lay a tremendous black stone, the stone, which could be the size of any one of the larger mountains in the spine, had a three foot wide white streak that ran all the way down its length. At the base, where they stood, wrought in the ancient language, were the words "speak your name, O Dragon-Rider, and be the key to the vault of souls" eragon and saphira, as one, spoke the name that linked them. "_Sa'Rigon" _the name, greater than any other known, had the greatest power known in existence. It was the true name of the Grey Folk, which meant those who are unbound by fate. There was a great rumbling within the great stone, and the white streak glowed, and dissolved, leaving a passage between the two halves of stone. "Enter" called a voice of tremendous power from within. Knowing that the only way to go was forward, Sa'Rigon stepped forward and was pulled through to the other side of the rock. There, several faceless shadows gathered. In the face of the power the two who were one now felt, they would have trembled, individually, but the one who they became knew no fear.

The shadows materialized before them, in the forms of several people they knew well. Sa'Rigon, garbed in the finest blue dragon armor, with the body of a human and the wings of a dragon, Saphira's blue eyes, and Eragon's brown hair, looked between the faces without emotion, nor did their voice, a cross of humanoid speech and the deep rumbling growl of a dragon, betray their emotion. Only the feeling he gave off expressed in it's greatest sense, the wonder and love that they felt for those before them. "Brom." They reached out, and clasped hands with their old teacher, as a part of themself felt the first Saphira reach out and greet them as well. "Oromis." They performed the traditional elven greeting to their second master, and his dragon. "Garrow, father." In this, they embraced the man eragon now accepted as his father. Five figures they did not know by face stepped out of the void. Although Eragon and Saphira knew them not, they introduced themselves. The first was Evandar, former king of the elves, and father to Arya, two were Faolin and Glenwing, Arya's companions in transporting saphira's egg, before being killed by durza, one was Carsaib, formerly the shade himself, and the last was Tornac, the man who taught Murtagh how to fight. They greeted them all with their respective proper greetings, and finally were met with a voice of such quiet power that it made even the fearless dragon-rider tremble. "greetings, to one who bears my name, and the dragon to whom he is bonded." Out of the shadows stepped a tall elf, his silver hair and gleaming white armor a perfect match for the dragon that followed in his wake. The tremendous white dragon was perhaps five times the size of Glaedr, and of such a bright white color that it nearly blinded even the keenest eye. Sa'Rigon got down on their knees, and attempted to perform the highest gesture of respect possible, but they found their hands caught in the grasp of the tall elf. The silver haired elf smiled down on Sa'Rigon, and spoke in the ancient tongue, "I come from a generation of elves that were mortal, and in my time, elves did not hold to the stuffiness of our descendants." The dragon-rider arose, and said "then I shall say greetings, eragon ebrithil, and greetings, bid'duam ebrithil."


	4. Chapter 4

Dear readers – if you'd like a look at what the gedwey garjzla (eragon's sword) the other interesting change to his persona mentioned in this chapter, go to the blog that there is a link to on my profile page, and go into the picture album labeled eragon stuff. Feel free to comment on my blog, though their isn't anything to it besides my picture albums.

**The Vault of Souls**

Outside of the timeless void, it would have taken Sa'Rigon a hundred years to learn all the secrets their teachers showed them. But within the vault, more than that amount of time passed in the passing of several hours. They learned the greatest and most complex spells. They obtained a keener control over Their nonverbal magic skills, as well as their flight abilities, and the dragon half of Sa'rigon obtained such mastery of the ancient language that, by saying the ancient word for dragon magic, draconic spells could be used much quicker, also allowing for them to change the alignment of their chosen element, which they found far more apt as lightning than fire. More than that, they learned battle strategy from brom, additional sword techniques from Eragon and tornac, and balance and dexterity from glenwing and faolin. Carsaib taught them to summon lesser spirits – ones that could be controlled, such as a spirit that could heal for them while they attacked an opponent, and how to filter their strength so that it did not drain them as much, and they learned the art of self-changing magic from evandar, who was a master of it, so that they could disguise their spirit as that of an animal, or temporarily increase their strength or speed with it. (being dragon-rider, or even dragon and rider, they carried innately draconic traits, which were too deep to be changed with magic, so the physical changes they rough upon themself only lasted a minute or so.)

Then it came time for the dragon-rider to complete their training. Eragon who was the first rider said "I give you now the true secret of the gedwey ignasia. The true power of the riders. In death, we no longer possess the power necessary to pass on the great secret, but with the combined power of three riders, and so many others, we may succeed. I lay all my hopes for a brighter future on your heads. I know you will not intentionally fail me. Separate into the two beings you must be to leave this place." With a blink of thought, sa'rigon was eragon and saphira once more. "hold out your hand, eragon. What I give you now is the last will of the grey folk. It is the power of the vault of souls. When most people die, they slip into the void outside, and wander to the end of time. However, several of those of the three races are called "wyrdawe" or the fatebound, and come here to tend to the one who will give free will a new birth. That one, is you. When you rtake the power I give you, you shall be a true rider. However, sending the power across the void that comes will require all the might of the vault, and it will collapse once you have left. I suggest you say your goodbyes before I transfer the magic."

Eragon the first rider put down his hand, and allowed the eragon who is unbound by fate say his last goodbye. He went to each in turn. Carsaib thanked him once again for releasing him, tornac begged him to help murtagh, and he swore he would, glenwing smiled and shook hands with him, brom mussed up his hair, and then shook hands with him, he and oromis bowed to each other, and garrow hugged him one last time. When it came time to bid farewell to evandar and faolin, faolin took him aside, and said "you now hold within you the hundred years of wisdom that would make you a young man among the elves. Arya, whom you know as well as I, cares for you, and has feelings for you… as she once did me." At last, eragon understood. "she will never forget you. I know your heart will always belong with hers." He said in the ancient tongue, speaking only the truth. Faolin cupped his hands, and opened them. In his palm, stood a tiny obsidian flower. "I know, but you are now wise enough, and she can have no objections, and neither do I. You are a rider. It is the greatest honor to be had, to be loved by a rider. Notice I say love, and not infatuation, for I know your heart, and I know hers. She does not love you, though her heart may say otherwise, but in short ado, she shall come to see what her heart already knows. With this, my blessing, I give you my last gift for her. Go with it, shur'tugal." Eragon felt elation build in his heart. He turned to evandar. "you need not hear my blessing. I have seen your deeds, your honor, and the love you give those you care for. You have had my blessing since the day you decided to save my daughter's life simply because it was the right thing to do." The tall elf smiled now, and extended his hand in the human gesture of a handshake. "good luck to you, Argetlam."

Finally, he turned to the rider who bore his name before him. "thank you for your tutelage, eragon ebrithil. I pray only that I do not fail you." The eldest of the rider's put a hand on the younger one's shoulder. "eragon finariel. I have watched you for the longest time. I know you will do what is right. I have no doubt in my mind that if there is anyone who can restore balance, it is you. Hold out your hand, now." The younger of the two eragons took two steps back, and held out his right hand, exposing the Gedwey Ignasia. The elder rider held out his gedwey ignasia, as every other person in the vault held out their dominant hand to him. A flash of light emitted from his hand, and a blue-white serpentine dragon flew out of the silver light. It hovered in the air for a moment, before flashing around between the others in the vault. It passed through the hands of oromis and brom first, then evandar, then faolin and glenwing, carsaib, and finally tornac. The dragon, now a bright bluish white dragon, surrounded by an aura of dark blue fire. It lay suspended in the air a foot away from the young eragon's hand, before flying at lightning speed into the gedwey ignasia in young eragon's palm. Eragon felt a searing pain run up his arm, to his elbow, as a flash the same color as the dragon came out of his palm, and wrapped itself around his arm. Another blinding flash, and there on his arm, was a large serpentine dragon tattoo, that encircled his entire arm up to the elbow. "that is the true might of the shur'tugal. Go with it, and use it well. It is Eszpiin, the great god dragon, for which the spine is named. As great as all alagaesia, he is the one true immortal, and never dies – only sleeps. His last known sleeping place is your home land, the spine. It is said that those mountains are his great spiked back rising up from his earthly slumber. I have no more time to tell of the legend. You must go, before the vault collapses, and the void envelopes you. Go, eragon! Atra esterni one thelduin." May good fortune rule over you. The younger eragon was amazed at the show of respect he was just given. When the other person performs the first part of a greeting or goodbye, it is a sign of the speaker's subordination to the one to whom he speaks. "Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr," peace live in your heart, he responded, and the elder rider responded to that in kind; "un du evarinya ono varda." And the stars watch over you. The older rider smiled his last goodbye, and eragon and saphira were pulled back through the twisting nether, into the world where they first entered the void.

They stepped through, as the world rematerialized around them, to see selena kneeling on the ground, whispering a plea for her son's safe return in the ancient language. Eragon said, his voice filled with a new wisdom, "you need'nt pray for me, mother. I have returned." She turned and looked at him, her eyes attempting to pierce his soul. Are you just another hallucination of a deranged mother's mind, or are you my son?" he held his arms out for her, and she embraced him. "I feared you would never return…" she looked up into his eyes. He appeared at least a year older than when he had left. "you have aged." "by the standards of a century to an elf, yes. I have aged, and perhaps, even grown wiser." There was a long silence between them, and then she said "move quickly. It took us nearly an hour to reach the void, and you've but a few minutes to save arya." "have I been gone so long? What chance do I have to save her. I've only enough of the grey folk's magic to free murtagh from his vows. I cannot break his spell over her and still have a chance to free him… or perhaps, I can!" _saphira, come quickly! I shall need your magic as well as my own for this._

As saphira appeared overhead, he leapt twenty feet in the air, and landed on her back. In a blink, they were gone, teleported out and away.

When eragon and saphira arrived at their destination, the darkness that surrounded them was immediate. They could not see, hear, or communicate. This was an evil darkness. Out of the nothingness, came a voice. It said "so, you've come to surrender after all, eh, little brother?" eragon said nothing. When the darkness cleared a bit, he could tell they were in some kind of glass-domed room, with a sky so dark little could be seen behind the smog. _Uru'baen. Capital city of hell on earth._ Said saphira.

"tell me one thing, murtagh," said eragon. "if there was a chance for you to fight galbatorix, and be on the side of freedom once again, would you?" there was a long silence, as murtagh pondered his brother's statement. "yes." He said simply. "then I ask only that you hold still."said eragon, and unleashed the magic of the grey folk on all of the vows murtagh had spoken to galbatorix, breaking them. When the power ebbed away, eragon said "you are free, brother. Now the only binds that hold you are those of your ties to morzan, and the evil you have chosen to surround yourself in." murtagh took a step forward, and embraced his brother. "thank you, eragon. Thank you." He cried onto eragon's shoulder for what seemed like hours. Finally, murtagh looked down at his younger brother. The evil malice was gone from his eyes, and only a look of conviction remained where the malice once was. "I will relinquish my hold on arya, and then, together, you, I, saphira, and thorn, we will defeat galbatorix, and restore balance to the races three." "then I suggest that we leave this place, and go meet our mother."

As the two riders left the dark city, eragon explained about selena, and how she was bound to follow fate, and had no choice about abandoning murtagh to his father. In spite of the anger eragon thought murtagh would hold towards their mother, murtagh seemed to understand perfectly, and held no grudge. When asked why, he simply said "I know what it is to hold the clay that is fate in your hands, and be unable to shape it." While the two brothers spoke, the two dragons acquainted themselves with each other. When they reached farthen dur, they were close enough to the void marsh for eragon to teleport the four of them through the mountain barrier of Du Felvarden. When they landed on the other side, arya leapt up and drew her sword. "eragon!" what trickery is this? You ride with a Wyrdfell? The forsworn who attempted to murder your brother?" "the brother who I never knew I had, who has been saved from the evil that enshrouded his being. Look in your heart and mind, ad you will know what I say is true." There was a silence. "you have aged, eragon elda. Aged and grown wise." As she said this, a figure crested the hill on which they stood. "he has opened the vault of souls, and learned for over a century from the greatest riders of all time." Selena looked from one son, to the other, and guilt rose in her heart, as bile in her throat. "murtagh, my son… I am sorry, and though I know you can never forgive me for what I've done, but at least you can know that your mother still lives, or, if you so choose, you may know that you were the one to kill her." Murtagh drew Zar'roc, and flung it to the ground. He ran to selena, and embraced her, as eragon had hours earlier. "forgive me, mother. I have done… horrible things." "forgiven, my son. It is only you who can make up for the pain of regret on your conscience."

While all this was going, on, arya eyed murtagh warily for some trickery. Eragon stepped up beside her. "he has been redeemed. When I used the magic of the grey folk to break galbatorix's vows, I saw into his soul and I know the ancient words that represent his soul. He is misguided, and his heart will take time to restore the noble part of him that was lost to galbatorix's torture, but he is on the first step down the right path." Eragon suddenly remembered something. He rummaged through his pocket, and found what he sought. "the vault of souls was the place where the fatebound dead go, to await the return of the true shur'tugal." He pulled down his sleeve, revealing the true gedwey ignasia. "this is the might of the dragon riders. Within the vault, I was trained by the first rider, and by multiple riders and representatives of the three races in balance. One of those representatives… he wanted me to give you this." He held out his hand, the tiny obsidian morning glory resting in his palm. He watched as tears rose in arya's eyes. "know that his heart will always belong to you." He was quite surprised when she embraced him, and figured it would be an unwanted gesture for him to hold her back. When she composed herself, the thanked him, and took the flower, a smile on her face so glorious it rivaled a sunrise. For the sake of seeing the smile remain there, eragon said "also, your father says hi." Her eyes widened, and it took a while for her to speak. Finally, she said in the ancient language, "thank you eragon… I am forever in you debt… for healing my soul."


	5. Chapter 5

Dear Readers – I feel I must apologise for the rushed pace of this story which is due to the fact that my attention span is shorter than that of a toddler, and I must get the story out as fast as possible, before I lose interest. Some examples of this would be that four out of the five stories I've written are unfinished, due to my short attention span. I apologize for the rush, and am grateful for those of you who bear with me to the end of the story.

P.S. – If anyone has any ideas for filler to make the story longer, email me your ideas, and, if they fit the storyline, I'll include them, and repost the story. Thanks!

RonninBlade.

**Family and Close to It**

As they flew at speeds not known even by dragons for ten thousand years, powered by the strength of there being a true rider in the world, eragon looked back upon the world with new eyes. _It is beautiful, seeing life and growth._

_After more than a hundred years in the void, I must agree with you, little one._

Some minutes later, as eragon looked to his left, to survey the mountains, he saw out of the corner of his eye, arya studying him with the most intense focus. "what?" "you've aged, eragon. How long, by the standards of the void, were you gone?" "I have not seen the light that is the living world for a little over one hundred years…" he smirked inwardly, careful to guard his emotions in the way of the elves. _That would make me some years older than you, now. _He thought. _So much for you being too young._ Added in saphira. She said this in jest, for, though she knew eragon still loved arya, he knew where her heart belonged, and that even Faolin's death did not interfere with his love. For this reason, he kept his feelings to himself, despite Faolin and Evandar's blessings.

When they arrived in trongjheim a minute later, the dwarves would have torn Murtagh from his dragon, were it not for the powerful wards he and eragon had placed around the group. "Blothr!" he called, forgetting the limits of power, and using magic to force twelve dwarves to halt in their tracks is about as tough as a spell can get, since it becomes a battle of wills. Nonetheless, the spell succeeded, and eragon explained. "he was under the control of Galbatorix. He could not save himself from the fate that he was trapped in. I used the magic of the grey folk to break the hold of the ancient vows he was forced to make. He is an ally now." He turned to murtagh, who said "vel einradhin iet ai shur'tugal." Upon my word as a rider. Knowing that such a word could not be lied, the dwarves sheathed their weapons. Several of them muttered "barzul" anyway, and the one who was the last to walk away spit on the ground and said "barzuln", which is at least ten times as bad, and twice as bad still further for the spitting. Orik, however, walked up warily, and said to murtagh, "I cannot say I did not doubt your true allegiance. Until now, I thought you an enemy, but, if eragon sees that there is still good in you, I will fight at your side. I can never, however, forgive what you did in killing Hrothgar." He turned now to eragon. "eragon! I've brilliant news! But first, who is the lady who rides behind your _friend_?" he asked of murtagh in such a light because of the secrecy involved in the truth about eragon's parentage. "orik, this is my mother, selena." Orik's eyes widened, as he realized the implications this had towards murtagh. Nonetheless, he kept these implications quiet. He bowed before selena. "I take it you are also the one who sees that which has yet to come?" "at one time, I was, but no longer. It is good to meet you in person, master orik." Orik turned to arya. " greetings, arya. I trust you are well?" "I am better than I was." She said. Orik turned back to eragon. "well, back to the brilliant news! As heir of Hrothgar, I have become grimstborith of durgrimst ingeitum, and I and Hvedra, the dwarfwoman I told you I was promised to, are to be wed on the morrow!" the dwarf ran up, and gave eragon a crushing hug that would have killed any normal human, but, being that eragon was a rider and a member of durgrimst ingeitum, orik had no reservations about preserving eragon's life, nor his own sense of dignity. Suddenly, time for the dragons, riders and one elf present was slowed to a painful crawl. A pained dragon roar echoed through their minds. They saw feet in sinister looking black boots, if boots could look sinister, and the wicked growl of evil laughter, behind the searing pain of what felt very much like being crushed alive. When the pain became unbearable, and their vision clouded over with the veil of death, the vision subsided, and they were themselves once more. Eragon looked up to see roran standing over him. "…eragon! What happened?" thorn answered for him. _we have witnessed the death of the last unhatched dragon. _It was a message so profoundly sad, that it deserved to be broadcast among all who were present.

Eragon shook his head to clear it. "perhaps not. The vision was too foggy to be a vision sent from the dragon to contact the only two beings it is familiar with; you and saphira. If that was the case, due to the fact that both of you are in the same place, the vision would have been cleared, and also, it wouldn't have been sent to arya. I think that this was a vision of things to come." "then we've no time to lose!" said murtagh. "galbatorix must know of my defection. He probably has decided that if he cant repopulate the dragon race for his own purposes, he would destroy it." "I haven't the power to teleport us all there, and, if this was a premonition, and arya was involved, it's clear she too is a part of averting it." Unexpectedly, a soft glow shone down from isidar mithrim. Everyone present felt stronger. _Perhaps I transferred some of my strength to isidar mithrim, when I healed it. I guess it is returning the favor, little one. _

Eragon nodded, and turned to his mother. "mother. I will not see you die when there is still so much to know about you that is yet unknown. Please, I beg you. Stay here. You can be of little help in a fight against one so powerful as galbatorix." Selena nodded, and said "I understand. Godspeed, my argetlammes." (argetlammes would be plural of argetlam, I guess.) as they mounted up, roran stopped eragon. "you may be able to beg my aunt to stay, but I will not be stopped. I will see your mission succeed, so that mine shall as well." Eragon simply nodded. arya quickly mounted up behind eragon, still not entirely trusting of murtagh, leaving roran to reluctantly mount up with murtagh. Eragon cared not who flew with him at current – his only wish was to save the dragon. There was a beam of light enveloping them from the great star sapphire, and they were gone.

They arrived an instant later in an immense room, gilded entirely in green. As they stepped into the room, they felt an overwhelming pull to a chamber to the left. When eragon evaluated the feeling, it seemed like it was the dragon. The others were already heading in that direction. "wait! Something doesn't seem right. That aura may be draconic, but it seems… sinister. Murtagh, you and I will go that way. Arya and roran, check the chamber to the right." Amazingly, they all listened. _Apperently, your suggestion has merit, little one. I and thorn shall wait here, since we can hardly fit into either of those chambers. If you get into trouble, we will lend you our strength, when it is needed._

Eragon and murtagh headed down the hall to the left, while arya and roran went down the other one. In the right hall, arya and roran encountered a pentagonal room. In the corners of the room, with the exception of the one that was occupied by the entranceway, each held a different item. To the right and center corner, was a set of brilliant green armor, complete with a dark green cloak, with an emerald leaf clasp. To the left center corner, a sword set with jade, and a sheath with three dark emeralds set into it. On the off center right, was a book case and desk, and, to the left, sat the object of their quest – a green dragon egg, with pale white-green veins running through it. Arya felt oddly linked to this egg. It seemed to call to her. She reached out to it with her mind, and, instantly, a crack split down the side, and a white light poured from within.

Meanwhile, in the hall to the left, as eragon and murtagh entered the chamber, they were met by a power so incredibly evil, their senses recoiled at touching it. Not wanting to give away any important information about who they were to their opponent, eragon whispered into murtagh's mind. _is this galbatorix?_

_No. this is something else. For me, something far worse than facing galbatorix. This is my own personal demon. The person who trained me in the dark powers of the ancient language. He is – _they were at that moment interrupted by the dark force becoming stronger, and being accompanied by a voice. "well, well, well. Murtagh. The prodigal son has returned. I see you've brought your brother with you, how nice." The figure stepped out of the shadowy distance, and into the minimal light. Before them stood what might have been a shade. But it wasn't. the ears were twice as long, and pointed, the hair blood red, the skin a charred black, instead of the normal pale pallor, the eyes thin slits of dried blood color, and the teeth filed into sharp and vicious fangs. "allow me to introduce myself, eragon. Since you are here and not free, I feel I must capture you alive, that our plans will succeed. Therefore, there really is little point in you being captured if you don't recognize your captors name. I am the elven shade, Korthen." A chill ran down eragon's spine. This shade. Everything about him spelled evil darkness, including his name, which could only be derived from the ancient word for ill omened darkness. In an instant, he was behind them, he flashed beside murtagh, and zar'roc disappeared. "I do not believe that sword rightfully belongs to you murtagh. In fact, I think it belongs to me." Both brothers eyes widened. ""morzan!"" "not quite. And it's father, by the way, you insolent whelps!" he drew the sword and arced it through the air. The sheer force of the wind off the blade nearly knocked the two of them from their feet. _Murtagh, who is this guy! Can it really be morzan?_

_He may carry father dearest's malevolent spirit, but as to his body, ever wonder why you never met vrael in the vault of souls? They tortured him and his dragon in order to make them strong against pain, before killing his dragon, driving vrael mad. Under galbatorix's covert persuasion, he attempted to rally his dragon's spirit in order to make himself stronger, and he ended up inadvertently twisting the spirits he conjured into malignant ones, and they consumed both his and his dragon's spirit. He is now Korthen the most powerful of the shades._

"well, whoever he is, we can take him!" said eragon. the shade laughed. "in case you haven't noticed, your brother is without a weapon. Do you really think you've the strength to face me alone? I sense great magic about you, and though you've the strength and speed of an elf, I've had over a thousand years to perfect mine. How can you use your power, if you cannot catch me." Just then, the dragon on eragon's arm began to glow, and it tore from his arm, leaving him tremoring in similar pain to the wound durza had inflicted on him, and sped out of the room, down the corridor whence they came. murtagh ran to his brother. "the power… it's gone… I can't fight him… too weak. Take gedwey garjzla. You must stand against him, because I cannot." Murtagh nodded, took eragon's sword, and faced his father's malice incarnate.

In the other room, the egg hatched for arya. As the white light receded from the shell of the egg, and the dragon surfaced from within, arya reached out to touch her dragon, and forever be bound to the magic of the riders. As she touched the dragon, a brilliant serpentine light trail flashed around from behind her right shoulder, and enveloped both the dragon, and her hand. At first, she panicked. This was magic of an unknown, and powerful source, but then she realized that it was the rider's magic linked to eragon. She felt a growth of consciousness within the dragon, as if its life was speeding to meet the requirements necessary for him to fight galbatorix. She felt a small tingle in the palm of her hand, as the gedwey ignasia appeared. Then, as suddenly as it came, the serpentine light flashed out of the room, and back the way it came. _hello, little one._ Came a deep voice that echoed through her being, and made her feel as if something was missing before, but now she was complete.

Murtagh had a difficult time enough fending off Korthen's attacks, but eragon's sword was a foreign weapon to him, and it was increasingly difficult to weild the weapon against a swordmaster who had indeed had over a thousand years of practice. As time passed on, he found it more and more strenuous, even with Thorn's aid, to keep up with the elven shade. It seemed as if Korthen had dipped into an endless supply of power, and that murtagh, though he had the ability to tap into his surroundings to obtain strength, and also perform other rather powerful tricks to gain the upper hand, since being freed by eragon, he had no desire to delve into the dark abilities he had gained ever again. Finally, murtagh made a fatal mistake in his stance, and tripped. "this is where you die, my son. We've still got two dragons left, one male, one female, and I, as your mentor and representative of the king, have no further use for you." Just as the killing blow was about to be struck, a silver stream burst down the corridor, distracting the shade. Murtagh made a pivotal strike as he fell, cutting Korthen across the shoulder. As he went down, he saw the living dragon tattoo reunite with eragon's arm. Eragon stood up, and called his sword to him, from the spot where it had spiraled across the floor. Even before the sword was in his hand, Korthen had Zar'roc at murtagh's throat. "make your move, young rider, and lose a brother, and fellow rider." Eragon thought for a second, sighed, and dropped his sword. The shade snarled and grinned wickedly, before pressing the red sword to murtagh's neck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Third Rider**

Eragon screamed "no!", but his cry of distress was overtaken by the roar of fury of not two, but three great dragons. Korthen became distracted, and turned toward the sound, distinctly different from the roar of one dragon alone, loosening his grasp on the knife, saving murtagh from death, at least temporarily. He turned to the red and blue dragons tearing their way down the corridor, barely able to fit, but moving at speeds unparalleled by any normal beast or being. He laughed at them, and said "what do you plan to do? Roast me? You'll roast the rider too, and if you attack, I'll kill him faster than you can blink!" suddenly, there was a crashing sound through the window to the side. In swooped a green dragon. _Duck! _Said eragon, into murtagh's thoughts. murtagh struggled, and managed to slide to the right, just as arya, mounted on her dragon, arched forward from her seat, and jabbed her sword, through the back, and into the heart of Korthen. Luckily, because he had slid to the right, the blade only penetrated murtagh's shoulder from behind. Immediately, eragon cast a spell shielding everyone from the shade's curse, and when the blackness that came from the death of the vile being came, it was followed by the voice of a noble elf, saying "thank you." As the echoing sound dissipated, eragon issued a statement. "galbatorix surely knows we've killed his shade, and recovered the last egg. I suggest we take our leave of uru'baen before we are caught with our trousers down, so to speak." Roran suddenly hopped down from arya's dragon, and said "wait, I have to get something." He ran out of the room, and arrived a minute later, carrying a green rider's sword and sheath in his hand. "a proper rider needs a proper blade." He said, and handed it to arya, who looked like she was caught between awe, reverence, wanting to accept the blade that once belonged to vrael, and wanting to put it back, since it felt sinful to take another's blade. Eragon put a hand on her shoulder. "roran's right. You need a sword worthy of your new abilities. Welcome to the club." He turned to her dragon, as did murtagh, each touched their own dragon with their left hand, and held out their right, on which the gedwey ignasia lay. They muttered a few words, and the dragon nodded. several minutes later, they were flying from the dark capital, a new rider in their midst.

"so, how did Beroan grow to mature size so quickly?" asked eragon, as they flew. It seemed as if the green dragon, Beroan, and his rider now carried the same knowledge that eragon received from the vault of souls. Eragon had a feeling it had a lot to do with the magic of the gedwey ignasia, which now apparently did things on its own accord. "I suppose it was the power of the true gedwey ignasia. Since it is the symbol of the dragon god, Eszpiin, it carries his will, and I suppose he is enterested in preserving the dragon race, so he gave me additional power to help." Eragon nodded. it confirmed his assumptions. Although arya had not been granted equivalent strength to his gedwey ignasia's new power, she and beroan had, through the dragon god's eye, learned all that eragon had in the vault of souls. He said nothing, his observations complete, and flew out ahead. It was clear to those around him that something was disturbing his concentration. _What is wrong, little one? _asked saphira,

_it's nothing. _

_You know you cannot lie to me._

_Alright! It's arya. I know I care for her, but in this past day since leaving the vault, I have accepted my responsibility as a rider, and although she, too is now a rider, I cannot drag her into my own personal feuds._

_Whatever do you mean?_

_I know now truly why I fight galbatorix. Since we freed murtagh, everyone I care for has been thrown into this mess. I risk there lives every minute I am not going head to head with galbatorix. Yet, with all the power I have now, I feel inadequate. I know, somehow, that I do not have the power to face galbatorix, alone, or with help. For this reason, I feel I must cut ties with my fellow riders. I must walk a dangerous path, alone, and I know I cannot convince you not to follow, since you are just as much a part of me as I am of you, so I know we walk it together, and yet, I am still alone. just as I know my power is inadequate, I know that, in the end, I must face galbatorix alone. _

_I suppose it is the blasted foresight your mother had, and now it has been passed on to you. _

_Whatever it is, there are likely only two ways I can face him alone. either everyone present must die before me, or I must leave them, so that they are no longer threatened. I choose the latter. I need only fulfill my promise to roran first, and then, we leave, to seek a new way to succeed._

There was a long silence, before saphira answered. _I see it as you do. I only fear that we will both perish, and the dragon race will die forever. Nonetheless, I go with you._

As the minutes passed slowly by, since they needed to circle around the other side of uru'baen in order to avoid the armies camped there, arya contemplated the look of deep thought upon eragon's face. _He is true to you, you know._

_What?_ Said arya, for it was her dragon who had spoken. _He is true to you. The bond he and murtagh shared with me was one of the open soul. It essentially was a pledge of absolute trust in me, hoping that I would return the gesture. I have seen into his soul, as I have into his brother in blood's, and I see only dedication, loyalty, and love._

_For me?_

_For all that he cares for, but most especially you. He has grown old inside, little one. And he has seen what the future can show him. He will leave us, if you do not tell him the truth._

_What truth?_ Asked arya, rather defensively. Beroan made a raspy growl in the back of his throat that could only be the laugh of a dragon. _The truth your heart now knows, but your mind refuses to accept._

As they rounded the edge of the capital at a relative distance, they saw the scene of war unfold before them. The war was at a dead stop. Both camps had removed their dead, whose numbers now lay in the thousands, and were resting for the night. Eragon realized that if their quest for power and roran's and his vendetta against the ra'zak didn't come to a close soon, the war would end, likely with the side of justice losing. He decided to use what power he had to put a temporary stopper on the violence, until they returned. He called upon the power of the riders present, and that of himself, his sword, the dragons, and all the strength he had stored in his belt, and he cast the largest spell he could, on the enemy side. "weaken the enemy's weapons, that they crack upon impact with our allies' blades!" he felt a wracking blow, as if he had lost his wind, hit him, as the magic left him. He lost his grip, as the magic drained him of his vitality, and his consciousness began to waver. He felt himself passing out, when a bright blue light shot up from far off, near helgrind, so bright it could be seen from such a distance. Far off at the source of the light, a brilliant diamond shimmering and visible clear through the sand. Brom's will was done. The spell eragon cast flew like a strong wind through the enemy ranks, powered by Brom's diamond tomb's stored power. When the aftershock of the spell wore off, all was still once again in the night air. Several words reverberated through the riders' minds, the voice of eragon's first mentor leaving a final message to the world. _"follow the light of Ezspiin, and find the last gift of the dragon god. Good luck to you." _Eragon was beginning to think that the spirits were guiding him. Regardless of brom's guidance, eragon knew he had put off helping roran save Katrina long enough. he flew up beside murtagh and roran, and said in a difinative tone. "we fly for helgrind. Your lady awaits, stronghammer." Roran nodded his head grimly. "Finally, we face the ra'zak, rescue katrina, and take our revenge for our father's death."

As the three dragons flew over helgrind, eragon signaled for them to go down four miles from the base of the rock, on the other side of it from Dras'leona. They made camp not far from where brom was buried, and, even in the coming dusk, the light still glowed in evening haze upon the dusty ground. Eragon thought in silence, as did roran, as the others contemplated continuing the legacy of the riders, and repopulating the dragon race. He finally spoke up. "in this, roran and I go alone. we must face our enemies, and best them in single combat, and, in so doing, take vengeance for the grief they have brought upon us. I would not have another besides the two of us get involved." With that, he stood, beckoned for roran, and they left camp. Just outside of the camp, eragon called saphira, "we go, my brother, to rescue your love, but afterwards, you must promise me something. When we complete this task, I cannot prevent you from following the other riders, since this is just as much your fight for freedom as it is everyone elses, but I must ask you to not follow me, and do everything else in your power to prevent them from following me. I have seen some of what is to come, and know that I alone must face galbatorix, and if you three stand by my side, you will surely all fall. If anyone must die fighting him, it will be me, at least before the rest of you. Do I have your word?" roran thought on it for several minutes, before shaking his head. "you do not. Over this time you have proved great loyalty to your friends and family. You have proved yourself the leader of the riders, and we can do no more or less than reciprocate, by following you." Eragon simply nodded. he did not think it would come to overpowering their minds, and knocking them unconscious, but if it did, so be it.

Are you going to tell him yet, little one? Tomorrow, he will leave, and he will not permit us to follow. He has the power to stop us, and you know he will. If he faces galbatorix alone, he will die. I too have seen a little of what is to come. If he defeats galbatorix, he will leave this land forever, and you shall lose a second cherished one. Either way you lose him. The question is now, or later, and to death, or life. Do you wish to lose him now, arya? to the doom that follows him?

…no.  
then tell him what your heart does tell you, now, before it becomes too late.

As roran re-entered the camp, followed by eragon, arya stopped eragon in his path, and beckoned him back out of the camp, a cross between a pained look and one of determination on her face. When they were out of range of normal hearing, arya said "eragon…" and quickly lost all nerve. "yes?" said eragon. "I… I – we have known each other for around two years now, and we have both matured and grown greatly in that time. I have grown fond of you, and through these past years, we have become friends. Whatever faolin's message to you was, I was not permitted to hear it, when Beroan and I relived your time with the first rider, but I know… I know what my heart tells me. In all this time, I have seen you do great things. I have seen you do dangerous and reckless things, but great nonetheless. I have seen you risk everything for those you care about, and I know your heart is true. What I called an "infatuation" you had for me, I realize now, can only be defined as love. And I… I reciprocate that love." She kissed him, thoroughly surprising them both. When the kiss was broken, they held each other, and arya said "stay… please… do not leave us to face your doom alone. stay… with me." Eragon nodded, and held her tighter.

In his sleep of elation, eragon wept with grief. He was now linked still further with arya, and knew that she loved him. But now, he knew as well that her following him, and her eventual death, was the price he paid. He knew he could not leave, but he sincerely wished he could. On the arrival of dawn, he awoke roran, and they flew for helgrind.


	7. Chapter 7

**At the Gates of Death**

As they ascended the spire that was helgrind, careful to keep out of sight of any who might be waiting for them at the top, eragon mentally explained about the ra'zak's parentage, and how it would probably be smartest to attack the ra'zak first, then the lethrblaka, if they got such a chance. However, an alternate plan was developed should things not go according to plan. Eragon cast incredibly strong wards over roran to protect him from the ra'zak's paralyzing breath. The secondary plan was for eragon and saphira to fight the lethrblaka, while roran defeated the ra'zak. They arrived at the empty top of the highest spire, to realize that the top of helgrind was an enormous crag, leading downward, through the rock itself. Knowing that saphira would be unable to follow, eragon lowered them down with magic. They were walking into a death trap, willingly. The bottom was probably 50 feet or so below ground level, and it appeared to be riddled with small holes, bored into the rock. Roran, for the sake of the element of surprise, had to suppress the urge to cry out for Katrina. Eragon silently drew his sword, and roran his hammer. They walked slowly and quietly down the corridor, until they came to the dark entrance to a large chamber. As they planned, they ran in, and made as much noise as possible.

The ra'zac were on them in seconds. Eragon had sensed them in the room as soon as they landed, and knew exactly where to cast the spell. "cloudde fonr un garzjla!" blind them with light! there was an awful shriek as the ra'zac, naturally afraid of bright light, were blinded. The two brother's charged forward, and attacked the beasts. It was truly terrifying to see them unrobed, for what they truly were: beaked lizards with skin that festered with oozing sores. Nonetheless, they tore into them, and destroyed their opponents. When the ra'zac lay dead on the ground, the two great masses of shadow on the other side of the cave stirred. "Impressssive, ridersss. We would not have exxxxpected you to kill our young ssso easily. Rest assured, killing us will be far more difficult." The two lethrblaka reared their hideous heads, and were on eragon and roran in an instant. If the ra'zac were smart, fast and cunning, the lethrblaka were a hundred times so. They overpowered eragon, but roran managed to slip out of their attention while eragon was captured. He quietly picked up eragon's fallen blade, and snuck up behind the beast that held his brother. He leapt upon the creature's back, and drove the sword into it. It was too far from the head to kill the beast, but he used the sword as leverage to pull himself up, and steady himself as the creature reared in pain. Eragon managed to free his right hand, and cried out "Arushiin!" he called the lightning, and it tore through the lethrblaka's shoulder. Roran dislodged the sword, ran up, and decapitated the beast, before being thrown against the wall by it's last death throws. This left only one to kill. Eragon rolled out of the way as the first lethrblaka fell where he had been, roran tossed him his sword, and he faced the last lethrblaka. "now you pay… for all you've done, to me, and those I love." He rushed forward, spinning the sword left and right through the air, and leapt into the air, bringing the blade down in a downward arc that sliced the beast's head in two.

When it was over, they went and found Katrina, who was unconscious, and badly malnourished. Eragon healed her wounds, and then turned to his last assailant. "you'll… you'll not take her from me!" sloan charged forward, empty handed, and eragon went for his sword. He was a traitor, an enemy. Eragon would not hesitate. Roran dashed in front of him, and planted the head of his hammer in sloan's stomach, knocking him out. The man crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. He then turned to Katrina, who was coming to, and a smile like nothing eragon had seen on roran's face since their days together in carvahall, alighted his features. Katrina opened her eyes slowly, almost fearfully. When she saw roran, she was not entirely sure what she was seeing. She felt better than she had in days, since her wounds had been healed. Eragon used magic to free her of her bonds, and she looked at roran quizzically. "roran?…RORAN!" she leapt up on unsteady legs, and fell into his arms. They cried together for almost an hour, and eragon left them to their reunion, and spoke to saphira.

_Saphira?_

_Yes, little one?_

_I love arya, but we will never be so close as these two, will we?_

_No, I doubt that. You are linked to me, as well as to arya, and it makes it difficult to exist this way, I know, but we do what we must._

_What do you think of Katrina?_

_She is a worthy mate for your brother. I have seen your memories of her in carvahall, and those of roran speaking of her, and I approve._

…_and what of Beroan, and thorn?_

Saphira laughed. _I do not know, little one. I feel drawn to thorn, but as a sister, and Beroan seems far wiser than any being I have met, besides Glaedr, so I do not think he would accept me. I suppose only time will tell._

After roran and Katrina had been reunited, they returned to camp, carrying sloan. They then made plans to go to the varden, and in doing so, provide sanctuary for Katrina during her recovery. They reached the varden less than a day later. There, when they arrived, they were met by nasuada and Elva, and Angela and solembum, who led Katrina off to fix her lack of nourishment, all the while explaining that toads are actually frogs. Once again, the tides of prophecy washed over them. They the three riders, and roran, this time, saw a great platinum-grey dragon. Brom's last words echoed through the vision. _"follow the light of Ezspiin, and find the last gift of the dragon god. Good luck to you." _Roran was the first to speak. "this prophecy clearly has to do with me, as the last one had to do with arya. Though I fear what is ahead, none can mock fate and go unscathed. I will go inform Katrina the wedding will have to await my return." And he left them. Nasuada asked what had just occurred, and eragon explained about their prophecies. he then turned to elva. "do you know if the time has yet come to reverse the blessing? I am willing at any time." Elva nodded, but said "you may be ready, but there are still things to be done. I will wait." Eragon consented to her judgment, and went on to inquire as to Du Vrangr Gata. Nasuada quickly explained that what was left of them was well, and then urgently asked what murtagh was doing here, and why there was a third dragon. "it is fate, or destiny, converging upon this spot. Murtagh has been saved, and arya is now the third rider. Besides that, we now must quest for the last gift of the dragon god. Apparently, it is part of the destiny we have chosen as riders to find this "gift" and use it to aid us in defeating galbatorix. But how goes the war?" nasuada smiled grimly. "well. Something happened a few days ago, and all of galbatorix's forces were left with damaged weaponry, and were unable to defend themselves. We cut their ranks in half, before they managed to get new weaponry from uru'baen, and then, yesterday, the elves came, and wiped out their sorcerors and magicians. So far, we fair well against our overwhelming odds." She smiled. As she did so, eragon felt a malice so deep that it could make a shade run in fear, enter his range of thought.

He rushed out of the tent, in time to see the eye of a tremendous hurricane open it's gaping maw, and release a black dragon of colossal size from within. Eragon leapt onto saphira's back, and was followed by murtagh and arya as he took to the sky. They drew their weapons, and surged forward with their most powerful spells, but the black and gold robed rider did not flinch, or sway in the least. A harsh and malicious laughter cut the air. Galbatorix held out his hand to the clouds, and spoke several words in the ancient language that no-one present recognized, and a bolt of black lightning flew from his hand, into the clouds. Then, hundreds of black lightning bolts poured down, some striking his own army, some the heaps of burned, burning, or waiting to be burned dead on both sides, and some on the side of the varden. Eragon looked on as the living struck screamed in terror and pain, and as all struck had the flesh torn from their mortal forms. As the bodies crumpled to the ground; scorched piles of blackened bones, their weapons floated into the air, and the bones reformed into skeletal wraiths. Each one's eyes glowed malevolently, and their bones shone obsidian in the daylight. Eragon and the others flew onward, but galbatorix pushed them back with the sheer force of his will. Realizing that he could easily drain the varden of their life to replenish his own strength, eragon cast an enormous ward over them, allowing any attempts to break into their minds to transfer to him, thereby allowing him to guard his own mind, something he was quite adept at, and prevent the dark king from getting to the minds of his allies. He immediately felt the intrusion of a powerful mind upon his own. **_Impressive, eragon. I would not have thought even the mightiest of the new riders would have the power to defy my mind. However, you have not the power to defeat me._**

He charged at galbatorix and exerted nearly half his energy into one great bolt of lightning. The dark king countered with his own bolt of black lightning, that seemed to absorb the energy of the blue one eragon was casting. **_Your assumption is quite correct. What you were taught of magic and its limits is folly. I have mastered the strength of the elements!_**

An immense battle of wills followed. Finally, after some minutes passed, and eragon felt his strength waning, he felt a tiny gap open in galbatorix's defense. It was paper thin, but wide enough for eragon to enter it. He suddenly felt himself in a far darker void than that of the vault of souls, but he managed to find his way through to the power that fueled the skeletal soldiers. He shut off flow to that power, and was booted from the king's mind at the same time. When he came into himself again, he looked about at the skeletons, all turning to dust on the battle field below them. Then the dark king spoke out loud, and his voice was a terrible thing to behold. "intriguing… very intriguing. I have not seen one with such power or talent, since mine own days of youth!" he laughed maniacally. "you have impressed me beyond measure, eragon, and though I could kill you now, and revive my skeletons at any time, I will spare you, and your army, for three days. That is the time you are given to further impress me. Three days, then, you surrender and join the forsworn, or you die. Until then, shur'tugal." With that, galbatorix rose up into the clouds, and disappeared.

"three days!" eragon pounded his fist into his hand, as they reached the ground. "that's all we've got, to find the last gift of the dragon god, and get stronger. We don't have enough time!" arya put a hand on his shoulder as they dismounted. "there is time. We still live, we are still free. There is time." She kissed him softly, and he returned the kiss. Eragon felt empowered once more. He knew, as long as she was with him, he could do anything. "murtagh. Get roran. We fly for the light of ezspiin."


End file.
